ECONOMY

Our system works when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone gives their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. The middle class is the engine of our prosperity. Our economy succeeds when it grows from the middle out, not from the top down. We need an economy that’s fair to everyone.

Rep. Brat Spars with Katy Tur over Merits of Flawed Tax Plan

Tur Interviewing Brat

On 12/19/17 Rep. Brat sparred with Katy Tur over merits of tax plan. Read about two of the known flaws in the tax plan that are prompting a re-vote by the House. Instead, maybe the House should vote NO, slow down, and look more closely at the details, ensuring that this legislation best serves the American people.

Republicans Hunt for Ways to Pay for Tax Cuts. And, a provision opens the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to energy exploration?

According to The New York Times (12/14/17), Republicans are scrambling to meet individual legislator demands so they can pass the largest tax overall in recent history in record time and without public consideration. As they struggle to find enough cuts to meet the $1.5 trillion budget increase threshold, the question remains: Why are we cutting taxes for wealthy corporations and families when the economy is "booming," according to Rep. Brat, the stock market is ballooning, and our deficit is increasing? And, what does drilling for oil have to do with taxes? It looks like the GOP is trying to sneak in benefits for Big Oil into a plan whose benefits to working families are set to expire in less than ten years. On Dec. 6 on Fox News, Brat discusses the need to rein in spending and balance the budget to reduce the deficit, but he has little regard for protecting corporate wealthfare entitlements and tax deductions for the most affluent families in the U.S.

TAX PLAN RIDDLED WITH GLITCHES

Lawmakers are working at breakneck speed to pass a revised tax plan by December 22nd, but rushing leaves room for unintended errors. This issue is too important to rush and conservatives and liberals alike need to take a thoughtful, measured approach to changing the tax code. And, with unemployment rates at historic lows and corporate profits at record highs, maybe now isn't the time to cut benefits to the working class and tax rates for corporations. Maybe Congress needs to focus on balancing the budget and addressing wasteful spending so that our tax dollars pay for human services and infrastructure improvements rather than interest on the deficit.

THE SENATE TAX BILL THREATENS ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

This week, Senate Republicans announced that they plan to pay for their tax cuts for large corporations and millionaires not only by imposing tax increases on the middle-class but also by undermining people’s access to health care. Specifically, they have proposed eliminating the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate, which helps keep premium costs affordable by ensuring that both healthy and sick people have health insurance.

MANY WORKING AND MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICANS WOULD SEE A TAX INCREASE UNDER THE HOUSE GOP TAX PLAN

Congressional Republicans have marketed their most recent tax plan, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” as a boon for American workers and a tax cut for the middle class. But the plan is heavily skewed to benefit the wealthy and corporations, including cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent at a cost of more than $1.4 trillion over 10 years; repealing the alternative minimum tax on high-income individuals at a cost of $696 billion; repealing the tax on estates worth more than $5.5 million at a cost of $151 billion; and creating a special new loophole that overwhelmingly benefits wealthy owners of pass-through business entities, such as limited liability companies and partnerships, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars.